Tell me who you are

By MARY JANE HOLT
Contribuing Writer

I have an assignment for you folks this week. I want you to tell me who you are.

I want you to tell me in 200 words, 75 words, 50 words and 25 words. Now I know you are NOT going to do that. So I will settle for any one of the four: 200 75, 50 or 25 words.

Repeatedly over the past few weeks I have been asked to tell folks about myself, in writing, using those guidelines. For various purposes, the description of who I am is needed in those assorted numbers of words. There are those who feel that it is easy (sort of) to just speak up and say “I’m ...” It’s different when you start to put it on a piece.

The truth is we seldom really tell others who we are. We may tell what we do. We may occasionally say how we feel. We may talk about future plans. But who we are is a whole ‘nother topic.

On several occasions, when I have spoken to groups, I have suggested that my listeners write their obituaries. Today, now, while you are healthy and robust and full of life, write it, I tell them. Such an act is a great inspiration for goal setting!

There is something about looking at a piece of paper that describes who you were and what you did with your life that is extraordinarily sobering. It’s a downright shame that it only happens to the dead.

I mean think about: one day who you are, what you did with your life, and what you will be remembered for is going to be condensed into a few short sentences, and if present tradition continues, published in some newspaper. If you are famous, it may be more than a few words. If you are really notorious then a popular magazine might run a story about your demise, or a television news program might mention who you were in 25 to 50 words.

See there? See what I mean?  Who you are/were could even be a television documentary. Or it could be 25 words on a small town morning radio community news announcement program.

What if you could do your own documentary on your life? Wouldn’t that be fun? Or would it? Would you like to travel back to your hometown, video camera in hand and film where you came from, your old hangouts, the homes of your best friends and worst enemies and tell why all were who they were and why. Oh, yeah, we think who we are is just who we are, don’t we. But that’s not true, you see. We are an ever-evolving result of anything and everybody that has ever touched our lives. We are never left unchanged. We are always becoming.

So, tell me how does one describe who one is?

I tried to do it recently in 200 words. I ended up with 1,063 and felt like I only scratched the surface. I think I honestly could have done better in 25 words. But then it gets mechanical. Cut and dried. Born. Lived. Died. That’s it. It’s all said and done. Not good.

So, if you accept this assignment, and I sincerely hope that you do, in your 200-word description of yourself tell me about the one thing that you feel has most influenced your life. The one person. The one event. The one location. Anything. Just pick the most influential something in your life and include a few sentences dedicated to that something.

Several years ago, at Christmas time I received an unsigned letter (13 handwritten pages!) from a reader in which she told me all about herself. It was without a doubt one of the most wonderful gifts I have ever received. I don’t think my reader intended it as such. I think it was just a hard holiday season (somehow the “merry” in “Merry Christmas” just doesn’t always pan out) and she simply needed to talk to somebody.

It was such an honor for her to choose to do it on paper and to me. I will always treasure that letter. I, who bare my heart and soul to you folks on a regular basis, sometimes hunger to hear your stories, your secrets, your plans, your memories.

So, please tell me who you are. You can do this. Take your pick: 25, 50, 75 or 200 words. But if you choose to accept this assignment and your fingers just will not stop writing that’s okay. Let it flow. I want to hear from you and about you. I’ll take anything I can get! Send it to maryjaneholt@aol.com. Or you can mail it to MJ Holt, PO Box 246, Gay, GA 30218.